“Must be quite a party.”
“No—it’s just traveling supplies.”
He helped me carry the cartons out and I opened Rocinante’s door.
“You going in that?”
“Sure.”
“Where?”
“All over.”
And then I saw what I was to see so many times on the journey—a look of longing. “Lord, I wish I could go.”
“Don’t you like it here?”
“Sure, it’s all right, but I wish I could go.”
“You don’t even know where I’m going.”
“I don’t care. I’d like to go anywhere.” — excerpt from p. 25 of John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley: In Search of America [Viking Press, 1962]
In early autumn of 1960, author John Steinbeck and his traveling companion, “an old French gentleman poodle” named Charles le Chien, set out on a 10,000 mile journey. Both were seasoned travelers. Charley started life in France, Steinbeck’s previous journeys included a stint in “an old bakery wagon, [a] double-doored rattler with a mattress on its floor.” The late-career, often-published writer felt he no longer knew his country, and the dog would “rather travel about than anything he can imagine,” to quote Mr. Steinbeck’s book once again. Rocinante was a pickup truck/camper, acquired for the purpose, plush accommodations by comparison to earlier vehicle travel, as Steinbeck acknowledged in the book.
By the time I came across my well thumbed copy of Travels With Charley—found in a bookshop now lost from memory—I’d already begun many journeys for far less compelling reasons, and everywhere I went I found myself in the company of other travelers—all of us by turns envied, pitied or resented by the home-bound denizens of landscapes we crisscrossed…
“I've been ridin' them fast rattlers, I thought you knowed
"I've been ridin' them flat wheelers, way down the road
"I've been ridin' them blind passengers, dead-enders, kickin' up cinders
"I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord.” — lyric excerpt from Woody Guthrie’s Hard Travelin’ [Woody Guthrie Publications, 1944]
Woody Guthrie was born in Oklahoma in 1912, left his home state after an oil boom went bust—in what should by now be a predictable pattern—and rambled the US with his guitar, an active imagination, and a willingness to adapt well-known folk melodies to his own purpose of getting a crowd of people to sing along with his tales of work, woe, and the joys of life on the open road.
“Way up yonder on a mountain road,
"I had a hot motor and a heavy load,
"I's a-goin' pretty fast, there wasn't even stoppin',
"A-bouncin' up and down, like popcorn poppin' --
"Had a breakdown, sort of a nervous bustdown of some kind,
"There was a feller there, a mechanic feller,
"Said it was en-gine trouble.” — lyric excerpt from Woody Guthrie’s Talking Dust Bowl Blues [Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, copyright renewed 1960]
Eventually hard living, commercial success, career setbacks from politically-driven blacklisting, and his own body’s “en-gine trouble” took Woody off the road, but not before his song lyrics had come to infiltrate and/or illustrate, various phases of most Americans’ lives, whether we realize it or not.
We humans and our dog (occasionally cat) companions are not alone in our travelin’ ways. By various modes, many species strike out for new adventures with the spring, but the balance of this post will mostly feature images from the National Park Service archives of early-20th century motorized vehicle travel in the American West, a phenomenon now buffeted by greed, speed, crowding and aggression. I’ll contribute a few words of illustration, warning and well-meant advice, but mostly I hope you’ll consider the comparative experiences of these earlier adventurers as you address your own longings to “go anywhere,” as John Steinbeck wrote so long ago.
Remember friends, you will not be alone in admiring “America’s Crown Jewels”…
Slow down for road workers and machinery. Take in the scenery, smile and wave as you pass by…
Take time to park, get out and walk a trail. It’s good for the digestion and heart…
Remember, not only sightseers use these roads. Respect the locals, they may have work to do…
…and finally, do not believe your phone app road map, but do confirm road conditions and proceed with caution…
Wherever you find yourself in coming weeks, I hope you’ll take time to look, listen and learn from the ecosystems you inhabit and pass through. Please feel free to Comment, Share and link to these posts. Up next, I’ll recap some subjects covered in Water Into Stone’s first 6 months of: Rambles, Rants, ‘n’ Tangential Tales. Until then, let’s help each other enjoy this beautiful planet we roam. - B.
Here’s a good source for background information about novelist and storyteller John Steinbeck.
Singer, songwriter, poet, author Woody Guthrie’s biography, lyrics, and links to his recordings.
The National Park Service archives are available as a resource for more deeply understanding the histories of various NPS units. I encourage you to explore more about Death Valley National Park, and Lassen Volcanic National Park.